Courts and Crime

On Friday, December 8, investigators from the Bedford Police Department obtained warrants on Sherman Romel Jones, 37, of Roanoke, charging him with two counts of robbery.
The investigation is ongoing and more charges are possible, authorities state.
Other jurisdictions
It appears Jones has been tied to other robberies.

On November 7 the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office investigated a larceny of money and medicine from a residence on Lowry Road.
On November 18, Tiffany Marie Leonard, 33 of Moneta, was arrested and charged with breaking and entering and third or subsequent larceny offenses.
Leonard has numerous charges filed against her in General District Court including the breaking and entering charges, credit card larceny, petit larceny, grand larceny and forgery and uttering.

Bedford Police are investigating the vandalism and thefts from several cars at around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9.
According to Police Chief Todd Foreman the windows of the cars, located at 320 N. Bridge St., Tharp Funeral Home, were broken out and items including money and purses were stolen.
Foreman said the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information should call Investigator Alderson at 587-6011.

A Bedford woman is facing one felony count of animal cruelty and five misdemeanor counts of animal abuse, following her arrest Nov. 27.
Shelby Lynn Gordon, 26, was arrested and charged on the charges following a call on Nov. 18 to Bedford County 911 dispatchers.

A simple traffic stop turned into a stolen merchandise case last week.
Shortly after midnight on Friday, December 8, officers of the Bedford Police Department stopped a vehicle traveling east bound on US 460 for driving erratically and then making an improper lane change.

A Bedford County grand jury met Friday, returning 44 true bills against 29 defendants, including against 43-year-old Shawn Patrick Overstreet of Bedford.
Overstreet was indicted on one charge of misdemeanor sexual battery and two charges of online computer solicitation.
The sexual battery charge alleges that Overstreet sexually touched a girl under the age of 18 but between 15 and 18 years of age. That is alleged to have occurred on July 14 of this year.

According to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Stacey Gardner, the death of Paul Thomas came down to one thing—gravel.

Last Thursday, Vicky Thomas Clarke, 56, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter—she had been charged with second degree murder–for killing her brother in the early morning hours on Oct. 1, 2015. The eight-man, four-woman jury recommended a five-year sentence and also found her not guilty of a use of a firearms charge.

On Sunday, November 26 at about 7 p.m., the Bedford Police Department responded to a report of a robbery at Walmart, located in the 1100 Block of East Lynchburg Salem Turnpike in the town of Bedford.
A black male suspect described as approximately 6 foot tall entered the store and approached a register. He stated, “Give me the money and no one will get hurt,” police stated in their report.

The jury trial for a Bedford County woman charged with second degree murder in connection with the Oct. 1, 2015, shooting of her brother was set to get underway Tuesday morning.
In April 2016 a Bedford grand jury returned indictments against Vicky Thomas Clark, 56, for second degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. The trial has been delayed several times since then.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges.